The Outsiders and Family Relationships One would think that conventional families are the most beneficial to a child’s mental, as well as physical health, but that is not always the case. There are many perfect parents, in every sense of the word, that have children that, well, aren’t good in people in general. Many unconventional families may also produce phenomenally great children. Sure, conventional families have more of an advantage in raising their kids, because they have the resources to do so, but there are exceptions. Think about Bob. He had parents that were implied to have loved him more than anything, and they treated him as such, and they had a ton of money on top of that. But something is revealed about his home life that puts things into perspective: “He kept trying to make someone say ‘No’ and they never did. They never did. That was what he wanted. For somebody to tell him ‘No’. To have somebody lay down the law, set the limits, give him something solid to stand on.” (Hinton 170) Nobody ever punished Bob for anything he did. Because of this, Bob made his goal to push his parents’ boundaries, to finally get them angry at him and not just blame themselves. This is what led to him becoming an alcoholic, which in turn made him seem like a violent douche. The alcohol, mixed with his desire to finally reach a breaking point with his parents, is what caused him to finally snap and try to drown Ponyboy after the movie. The fact that his parents treated him too